A New World
by Luna Covey
Summary: It was irritating that her younger brother spends his days wasting away playing video games, until one day, he buys a device that was a state-of-the-art invention capable of synchronizing real life to virtual reality. Worried, she joins him after the hours passed without a single peep, sealing her fate inside the world of Sword Art Online.
1. A New World

**A/N: **New story, sporadic updates. Hopes everyone enjoys it. There are some mistakes so I apologize in advance if y'all come across one.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Sword Art Online**

**Chapter 1: A New World**

"I finally got it!" shouted her younger brother Sota, holding a box high in the air as if it was a treasured item. Well to the young boy, it probably was, after all he was such a gaming geek. Kagome sighed, not really pay attention to what her brother was saying, who was going around showing their mother and grandfather the features of the console, a new model called the NerveGear which supposedly allows the player to feel as if experiencing the real thing except it was all based in the virtual world.

"You spent all your money on a gaming system?" she swore that sometimes her brother was just too much. Instead of finding a girlfriend or doing something for once out of the house, he stayed inside after school and work, playing until late at night when their mother makes her rounds and convinces him to leave the game for the next day.

Sota stuck his tongue out, annoyed that his older sister was trying to downplay his joy of the limited edition game and gaming system. "Look, you and I have different interests, so go play with your dollies and I'll play with my game." He was the lucky few who didn't have to wait in line for days for the duo package to come out since he had the connections. He was very happy and excited to finally get it, since it was excessively commercialized with awesome features and graphic. He was nearly shaking in his bones.

She ignored his smart-ass mouth, snatching the box from his hand. Sota grumbled, but waited until Kagome sated her curiosity of the state-of-the-art gaming equipment ever invented and the added game that was held as the first ever virtual reality game that included real-like online interactions with multiple players.

"Why did you get two headsets?" she furrowed her brows.

"You know how I get when I'm angry with a game." Ah yes, Sota's tendency of completely destroying the game controller in a fit of rage when he loses; his temper tantrums were always amusing, especially since he had to buy a replacement himself. "Now, if you don't mind, I wanna start playing it right away." he snatched the box right back which earned him a swipe to the back of his head.

She and her mother watched as the unfazed boy practically ran up the stairs, carefully shielding the box while giggling. "How did he get that game, it must've been expensive."

"Your brother is very stingy with his money, he only ever spends it on games you know." the older woman giggled. "Ever since he heard of the commercial, he has been saving his part-time earnings."

"I think he's a little too obsessed with games, he's almost fourteen. Shouldn't he be hanging with kids around his age or something, all he ever does is play games all day."

"His friends are game fanatics as well, I wouldn't be surprised if they all went and bought that silly game."

"I don't know, anything manual is fine, but this NerveGear… it's a helmet, it seems dangerous." she frowned, eyes narrowing when she recalled what it looked like, it was a rather strange device. "I'm just worried mama."

"I'm sure he's going to be alright, Kagome." her mother said, heading towards the kitchen with her. "The worst that could happen is him frying his brain from playing that video game too long."

Kagome shook her head, smiling at her mother's attempt at humor. "I guess you're right."

* * *

"Hey brat!" Kagome yelled upstairs. "It's time to eat!"

No reply came, not the usual _'I'm coming'_ or the noncommittal grunt when he would be too stuck on the game to actually hear what was being said. Kagome placed her hands on her hips, that boy has been playing that game ever since he bought it this morning. She didn't even hear the telltale signs of him stomping out of his room, in fact the house sounded completely quiet. Usually Sota would have the T.V turned to the highest volume, which could be heard clearly from downstairs and cause her to grab the broom and jab the top against the ceiling. But there was nothing, just a strange silence.

"Mama, did you hear anything at all since Sota bought that game?" she asked the busy woman who was adding the finishing touches to their meals.

"No, I would have guessed he would be making a lot of ruckus."

"I did too, but it's super quiet, I'm gonna check on him." Kagome walked up the stairs, the floorboards creaking with each heavy step. Arriving at her younger brother's door, she opened it without knocking, knowing he wasn't doing anything that could potentially gross her out.

Her eyebrows flew up, taking in the quiet room and the fact not even the T.V was turned on. She saw that her brother was laying on the bed with the helmet on. He looked to be asleep, but his eyelids were twitching after every couple seconds.

What on earth do kids these days play? She poked him hard on the ribs and then shook his shoulder when he didn't respond. She knew better than take the helmet off; every time she interrupted his game, it was like unleashing a demon and he would rant loudly for more than an hour each time she was in close proximity to him.

She headed towards his desk instead, seeing a thin manual guide with the name of the product in large print. "Sota, mama prepared lunch, get up." she absentmindedly demanded to the unmoving body, more focused on the booklet to really worry about the comatose-like state of her younger brother.

A VRMMO device that was compatible with the game, Sword Art Online. Or should she say, exclusively designed for that game.

"Kagome! How is Sota?" her mother voice came, interrupting Kagome from skimming through the glossy pages.

"He's still playing the stupid game!" she shouted back, sitting to read the manual more thoroughly. She had to say, it was really interesting and very sophisticated. To feel everything in a game, virtual reality that involved all the five senses.

But if all the senses were focused on the game itself, would they be able to feel the urge to use the bathroom or when the stomach was growling from hunger or when the body feels dehydrated? And the fact if the body wasn't moving after a long period of time, they could definitely develop pressure ulcers. She knew this since Sota would sit on his bed for hours without moving and always complained about his butt being red and tingly afterwards. Anyways, it doesn't really explain anything about health concerns in the booklet.

"You're lunch is getting cold!"

"Mama, he's stuck on that game, he's not even moving!" Unfortunately, that made the older woman rush up the stairs, worry showing in all her movements and expression. She gasped when she noticed her son's stilled form.

"What happened, why is he like this?" her mother moved close, gently shaking the boy's shoulder, trying to arouse him from the game.

"I guess it's part of the game," she handed the booklet to her mother after getting a vague idea of what it does. "I'm not even sure how to wake him without taking his helmet off, but I rather not hear his mouth."

"Well, we could unplug it." the older woman started heading towards the small cord, which was plugged to a small, vertical disk reader and connected to an outlet. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind starting over."

"Mom wait, I don't think that would be a good idea." Kagome stopped the woman inches from touching the cord. "It's a VRMMO, I could just go in there and find him, give him a chance to save his game and we'll be back." she said when her mother gave her a questioning look. It didn't disappear and her confusion grew even more.

"A what?"

"It's all connected mama and I'm pretty certain he haven't made it far in the game, he never played it before." Also she was now curious about it; it was adventure-based that features monsters, reminding her faintly of her past trips to the Feudal Era. "I also want to check it out."

"Kagome…" her mother started to reprimand, concern shining in her brown eyes though her daughter's own bluish eyes gleamed with vivid curiosity. "Well… just be careful." she sighed.

"Mom, it's just a game, nothing's gonna happen." she grabbed the other headset and took the abandoned booklet to see how the thing was programmed. "The cord isn't gonna reach from my room, do we have another futon I could use?"

Quickly, the woman left the room to the hallway closet, grabbing a regularly frequented futon that Sota's best friend used when he came over for game night. At the time, Kagome read through the detailed instructions while her mother set up the futon. With everything set and in place, she laid down after placing the helmet on and connecting the cord to the headset and to the disk reader.

A small beep signaled that it was up and running, escalating in volume as it warmed up.

"Quickly find him Kagome." were the woman's left words, nearly being drowned out by the noise emitting from the headset.

"I will mama, don't worry, everything is just fine." she took a deep breath, readying herself, she felt oddly nervous, but excited in a way. "Link Start." Her vision blacked out before a bright light started peeking from a distance, rapidly increasing in intensity before a rays of different colors flooded her sight.

Several pop screens came up, checking if her senses were in tune with the game and then a screen where it states whether the player was new or returning. Since she haven't played this before, it read her mind and clicked sign up. After filling in the basic information and having it be accepted, she arrived at a character creation and that was when her first thought came into mind.

How was she going to tell who was Sota? Every time he played a game, he usually picked a female character with large breasts and thick thighs… the little pervert. She wondered if he really chose to be a woman in the game, that would make her search even more difficult. And not to mention, his name, since she knew he wasn't about to use his given one.

Well she will get to that bridge soon enough.

Picking features that came close to her real life image using the default choices, since she wanted to get her task done as quickly as possible, she selected start and everything turned gray with large, floating words welcoming her into the game before a flash of various blues appeared within her sights.

Blearily, she blinked, feeling disorientated. She looked down, staring at her black boots as she tried to gather her bearings. Strangely, everything felt real, as if she was experiencing the sensation from the real world. She could even feel the sun's rays and the gentle breeze as it fluttered by. She could even smell the air, a crisp scent very unlike the polluted world she came from. Her heart started beating faster, her body tensing as she began hyperventilating.

_Girl, calm down, it's just a strange game_. she kept repeating in her mind. Raising her hands to her face, amazed yet nervous of every feeling she experienced when she curled her fingers, she noticed from her peripherals glimmering blue lights appearing all over of what seemed to be a town's center. And soon other players arrived, whom looked more amazed than nervous about everything, like it was expected to be synchronized intimately with the game. Well, too bad for her, she wasn't much of gamer and she didn't really read the manual extensively to the game before coming. Her eyes widened even more when she started moving, not even falling over or anything. _This too weird._

Fireworks started firing into the sky as the large crowd behind her started to cheer. She didn't have time to celebrate some game, she was here trying to find her hard-headed little brother. And judging from how big the crowd was, which was increasing with each passing second, it would take nearly forever. She started running towards a random direction, not noticing two boys running behind her.

"Hey, wait up!"

She stopped, looking behind.

"You two look like you played this game before." a man with dark magenta hair said after catching up panting with his hands on his knees. Kagome furrowed her brows, before pointing at herself. The man frantically nodded, excitement in his caramel-colored eyes. "Were both of y'all in the beta test?"

_Beta test?_ "Um, I'm new here, I'm just looking for someone." However the other boy, with handsome features, nodded his head to the pink-haired man's question, confused.

"But you seem to know your way around here." he blinked, puzzled. "I was hoping if you could show me the basic, okay?" he turned his attention back to the tall boy, clapping his hands together in a praying like manner. "I'm begging you!" he pleaded.

Maybe this boy could help her, especially in this virtual world. "If you don't mind, I would like to know as well."

"My name's Klein, nice to meet you!" he said with a cheeky smile, pointing to himself.

"Karashi." Kagome said, taking a couple seconds to remember what was the name she gave herself. The boy blinked, one eyebrow raised when he finally smiled and nodded, willing to take some time out and help out a couple of newbies.

"I'm Kirito."

* * *

"Kami, this is so difficult." she grumbled to herself, sitting on a patch of grass as she watched the man named Klein try his turn with the large bluish boar. He was promptly rammed by said animal in the crotch area, a wince escaping her mouth when the man gave an agonized cry through gritted teeth.

"Enough, you don't actually feel pain in this world." Kirito informed the downed man, hands on his hips as he watched the pitiful display with nonchalance.

Kagome grabbed a rock, thinking. She should have paid more attention to Sota playing games, but she knew that all she had to do was aim to actually hit the target and unfortunately, not once did it do anything but have the creature ignore her like the pebble was an insignificant bug. She concentrated, brows furrowed as a tunnel like vision with only the boar in sight appeared. A pinkish aura enshrouded the rock and without hesitation, she threw it. The boar squealed, disappearing in fragments of blue lights.

A tiny pop up screen appeared where the boar was killed, giving her experience, money and items that included the hide and tusks. A silence enshrouded the clearing before Klein exclaimed loudly.

"How did you do that?!" Klein practically ran towards her, grabbing her shoulders with curiosity shining in his eyes.

"I simply aimed and focused." she explained, discreetly trying to have the man let go of her shoulders by stepping back. She grumbled when the man just followed her like a puppy.

"I see I don't have to teach you about the initial motion input." Kirito said, watching her carefully. "However, you killed that boar with just a rock."

"Wait, you don't even have a weapon with you." Klein noticed, checking her out which caused her eyebrow to tick.

"I randomized what I wanted to be." she didn't particularly cared, she wasn't even being serious enough to go through painstakingly what her character archetype should be.

"You must have gotten the platinum edition that was recently put on the market with the original." the handsome boy mused. "You are definitely a tanker, but you have a new power that is only seen in the new version."

She honestly didn't know what a tanker was or this new power Kirito said. "Tanker?"

"What? You don't know?" Klein leaned in close.

Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "I'm looking for someone, I didn't pay much attention to what archetype I picked."

"Well a tanker is usually at the frontline, dealing massive amounts of damage. It's primary role is to survive while herding enemies away from allies." Kirito said, explaining her role.

_Great, I'm usually a supported, distance fighter… why didn't I take a minute to pick something else_. she groaned in her mind. But she calmed herself knowing she didn't have to play this game ever again after getting Sota to log off.

"You should get back to your lesson Klein, I'll practice over here with the other boars."

Klein nodded, walking away from the girl to another boar near them. Kirito lingered a bit, staring before following the pink-haired man. Kagome narrowed her eyes, those two guys were irritating. Kirito reminded her of Sota especially with his know-it-all attitude and Klein was too goofy.

The hours passed and she felt tired, as if her endurance was seeping away with every pebble she thrown at the boars, destroying them with a single hit and collecting the rewards.

"You want to conserve your energy, you'll feel lethargic if you use your powered attacks too often." Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin, she was stuck day-dreaming when she decided a small break was needed. She didn't notice that Klein and Kirito was standing behind her. Klein had a big smile on his face, his stance confident while the other boy had a small smile.

She lifted her hand to her face, blocking the strings of lights from the sun as it continued sinking down, the skies a warm orange with swirls of clouds floating around. "It's hard to believe that this is just a game, everything seems so real." she commented, hearing the chirping of some creatures from above.

"Yeah, whoever designed this is a genius, it's really amazing, spectacular." said Klein, awestruck as well with the virtual world. "Aren't we lucky to be born during this time?" he gave a smirk at the two other players.

Kagome shrugged, it didn't matter much to her.

Kirito gave a smirk in return. "You make a big deal out of everything."

Klein huffed. "It's my first time playing! I only bought the NerveGear to play SAO. I was lucky to be standing in that line for a couple days and getting one of the ten thousands copies of the game." he then turned towards Kagome. "What about you Karashi, did you wait in line?"

"No, my brother went and bought it for himself, I'm looking for him right now." she sighed, rubbing her head.

"Ah, so you're gonna team up with him huh?"

"Nah, I'm here to take him home, it was lunch time when I was in the real world, but I don't know if time here is different… it should be right?"

"It's a bit faster, but you wouldn't feel the difference." Kirito answered, staring out at the horizon.

"I'll find him eventually, anyways Kirito, you beta test this game before, how far along did you get?" she wanted to change the subject, she really didn't know these two guys like that.

"Yeah, I'm curious too. You're super lucky to be one of the thousands players to try this out."

"I only made it to the eighth floor over a couple months, I planned on reaching it in one month."

"Wow, you're really into this huh?"

Kirito merely smirked, taking his sword out to glance at it. "Ever since I was beta-ing, SAO was all I could think about, night and day."

_Gods, him and Sota would probably be best friends_. Kagome thought, making sure her face didn't look like she was stale facing the guy.

"…I feel more alive here than anywhere else." he gave a small chuckle. "Do you guys want to continue hunting?"

"I would but I'm feel really hungry." Klein said after holding his stomach, they could hear it growling. "I'm logging out."

"Eating food here will only make you think you're not hungry."

"I've already ordered a pizza and everything," he informed the group. "Once I've eaten, I'll return and we could continue then."

"Yeah, I probably log out too… if I knew how…" she trailed off, receiving incredulous glances. "What?" she grumbled, feeling a bit defensive. She didn't know the game like that.  
"It's easy, just swipe your hand like this." Klein demonstrated the action and his menu came up. Kagome followed suit. "Anyways, thanks a lot Kirito for helping me with all this stuff, I really appreciate it." His menu fell away as he reached to shake hands with the other boy. "I know some guys from another game, I plan on heading with them, you could friend them if you want, the both of you."

Kirito was shocked, but then he looked down, clearly looking put out. Kagome didn't say anything, it wasn't like she would see them again.

"Well of course if you don't want to, that's fine." Klein reassured them, taking in the dejected expressions of both. "I'll introduce y'all another time and we team up to do some quests."

"That would be great Klein." Kagome said with a forced smile, the man was really friendly and she could tell he was kind-hearted.

"Yeah, sorry… thanks though."

"I'm glad to have met y'all acquaintances, I'll see you guys around." Klein grinned, coming up to Kagome with a handshake which she returned.

"If there's anything else you need to know, just let me know." Kirito offered.

"I'll do that." with a wave, he opened the menu as did Kagome. Only to be stumped.

"Where's the log off button, I see a door that's all." Kagome frowned, carefully looking through the entire menu window to see if there was a trick being played or if it was cleverly hidden.

"You're right, mine doesn't show either." Klein scratched his head, his eyes squinting.

"It's on the bottom of the main menu, there should be three main boxes towards the right." Kirito informed them, looking up his own screen to see if he was experiencing the same problem. And unfortunately he was, there was no log out button on the screen.

"Well today is the first day, I'm sure there's bugs they haven't worked out yet." the pink-haired man tried to reason. "Everybody else must be panicking."

"You would be too soon, it's already five-twenty five."

"What?!" Kagome and Klein both yelled out. She couldn't believe she already spent four hours in this game and she haven't even came across Sota yet.

"My pizza and soda!" Klein dramatically shouted, his hands gripping his long strands.

"My poor mom…" she groaned to herself, a figurative dark cloud forming over her head. Kami, she was failure. She told her mom she would get Sota, but the entire time, she instead spent training and getting too fixated with the game.

"There must be some way to log off!" Klein was clearly panicking. Trying every possible way to leave the game, his shoulders slumped when it didn't work.

"I don't think that's possible, unless the stupid helmet picks up our desires to leave." She have been saying mental commands since this little problem came up, but she was still stuck in the virtual world.

"We're mentally connected here, we can't more our real bodies. The only other way is for someone to take the NerveGear off." Kirito grimly told them.

"W-what? But I live alone!" Klein exclaimed, his eyes wide at that particular outcome. How would anyone enter his house? "What about you two?"

"My mother and sister would eventually come to check once dinner starts."

Kagome sighed. "My mom, she's probably in the room already, most likely worried."

"You have a sister!?" Klein quickly latched his hands on Kirito shoulders. "Sure Karashi is a hottie, but we're in the virtual world and anybody could be either male or female."

Kagome's eyebrow twitched. "I'm not a man! If I were a man why would I play a woman?"

Klein shrugged his shoulders, "Some men are like that, especially the older men… but since you just said you're not a man, so how about it?" he released Kirito's shoulders before grabbing her hands, looking in her eyes.

"What are you doing?" she growled out, she brought her knee up sharply, which made him fall back in pain while holding his genitals. "There's always a time and place for that, and now isn't the time and can you stop that, you shouldn't feel pain."

"It's a habit, but anyways you're right, there's more important things going on than trying to flirt with you." Kagome's brows creased, habit? She shook her head, poor guy must get kneed a lot.

"It's strange how they haven't logged us out yet, probably everybody tried calling the head honcho, wouldn't they be receiving alerts and stuff?" Kagome inquired, looking pointedly at the only member of their temporary group who actually played the game before.

"Yes, but they haven't even made an announcement about this dilemma." Kirito replied, his eyes serious.

Suddenly, loud thuds of a bell rang from a distance away, causing everybody to look in that direction. Kagome shivered, feeling an ominous vibe from the heavy soundings of the bell. A bright flash appeared and a second later the players from all over the starting level appeared with a shimmer of blue.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Kagome inched closer to Klein, who had a blush on his face when her body bumped into his.

"A forced teleport, what is going on?" Kirito looked around, trying to find anything out of place that could actually explain this peculiar occurrence.

"Hey, what's that?"

A flickering red hexagon showed, flashing with a bold print that said warning. Soon the sky was covered with it, some even saying system announcement. A dangerous red glow reflected off the buildings and practically on every object. Kagome gasped when a vivid dark red liquid started pouring from the lines, reminding her of blood. It started forming, flashes of sparks ignited. Some of the other players looked frightened, not knowing whether this was part of the game or not.

What took shape looked menacing, fully formed into a giant floating figure cloaked in a red garb that shadowed its face.

The crowd started muttering, their confusion speaking loud. Kagome narrowed her eyes, until she heard someone call out her given name.

"Kagome is that you!?" she looked at the tall boy before her in confusion. "It's me, Sota." Of course she wouldn't be able to recognize him since he chose his character to have long, silvery hair, reminiscent of a certain dog-eared fellow and golden eyes. "Do you know what's going on?" she shook her head.

Then it spread open its arms in a welcoming gesture, speaking in a male's voice.

**"Attention, players. Welcome to my world"**

* * *

**Feedback would be lovely! :)**


	2. A Dangerous Feature

**A/N: **Thank you everybody who reviewed! I really appreciate it, I didn't expect that this story was gonna get this much reviews. There might be some errors seen, I combed through it carefully looking for mistakes, but there might be some that passed my eyes. Anyways here's the next chapter, enjoy! :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Sword Art Online**

* * *

**Chapter 2: A Dangerous Feature**

**"Attention, players. Welcome to my world."**

"Kagome, who is that idiot?" Sota asked, his golden eyes wide. "The game master? What does he mean by 'my world'?"

"Hush, I'm trying to hear." her younger brother gave her look, one that was mocking her, but quieted down when the weird, floating figure began talking again after the noise from around ended.

**"My name is Kayaba Akihiko and at this moment, I am the only person who has absolute control over this world."**

Many gasps came from the crowd, including her little brother. She jabbed him in the ribs, giving him a questioning look when he glared at her. Who was this guy? His tone and words was chafing her the wrong way, anybody who has control over anything meant trouble; she knew that from experience.

"He developed and designed NerveGear and this game." he quickly informed her, quieting down when the man continued his speech, his commanding voice silencing all commentaries.

**"I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu."** he said, swiping his hand down to display the screen, tapping against the blank slot. **"But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat… this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online."**

"A-A feature?" Klein muttered out, his eyes full of disbelief. Kagome narrowed her eyes, not liking what she was hearing one bit.

**"You cannot log out of SAO yourselves and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave destroying your brain and thus ending your life."** the dark figure explained to the bewildered yet frightened group.

Sota tightly grabbed her arm. "K-Kagome, I'm scared." he whimpered out, uncaring to the fact he was cowering close to his older sister. Kagome wasn't doing much better, but she was glowering more than being worried. After having many people during her adventures make attempts at her life, she seemed more calmed at the prospect of possibly losing her life. It was still something hard to swallow since their mother was in the real world, worrying about what was taking so long that she could be impulsive and actually turn off the game or remove their headgears.

Some people started heading towards the opening leading out the square, having heard enough of the nonsense the man was talking about, only to be repelled from an invisible barrier. Some loudly protest of not being able to leave.

"What's going on? How come we can't get out?" a man inquired, holding onto a frightened girl's hand.

"What is he talkin' about?" Klein mumbled, glancing in the couple's direction. "He's probably nuts, right Kirito?"

"He's right that the transmitter's signal works just like a microwave, if the safety was disabled, it could fry the brain." Kirito solemnly stated, watching with cool eyes at the floating figure.

"B-but if we could turn off the game?" Sota asked, hoping there was some way of leaving the game.

"That's not possible, the NerveGear has an internal battery."

Kagome sighed, feeling a headache forming. "It's one problem after another." The NerveGear having an internal battery was even worse, their mother could just pull their headgears off if they don't return awake.

"What is going on?! Why is this happening?" Klein exclaimed, feeling the same with the other players in the square, confused and scared.

"Calm down Klein, I'm sure he's gonna explain." Kagome said, crossing her arms when the man continued speaking.

**"Unfortunately, several players' families and friends have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever from both Aincrad and the real world."**

Gasps rang loud, some the players were in full hysterias. Kagome's eyes widened, her brother's grip tightening even more, and would have been considered painful if they were in the real world, but all she felt was a tingling sensation. His complexion turned pale white from fear, his teeth nearly clattering against one another. His golden eyes were wide as well, from shock.

"T-two hundred and thirteen players are dead from this stupid game?" she uttered underneath her breath. There was so many death over some game, over some man's mania. Anxiety shivered her flesh, prickles forming on her skin.

"I-I don't believe it!" Klein vehemently shouted out, denying the fact that two hundred players were dead. He didn't think it was possible.

Screens telling the horrid stories appeared around the being, showing the group of his deeds. "News organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of NerveGear being removed is now minimal."

Kagome heaved a quiet sigh, some of her worries vanishing. She knew her mother would have watched the news, and she assumed that her and her brother were out of the danger zone from having their headgears removed. However, with every word that man was saying was causing a brewing anger to develop, reaching to the boiling point of her short temper.

**"I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game, but I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your health points drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost and simultaneously, your life in the real world has been terminated."** he informed the group, seemingly relishing the looks of horror coming across everyone's faces as they pictured their deaths. A miscalculation could surely end their lives.

Kagome gritted her teeth, indignation flashing in her eyes. "T-that bastard." she growled out, her arms falling to her sides with her hands tightening to tight fists, her fingers digging into her black gloves.

**"There's only one way to escape and that is completing the game."** a holographic projection manifested, showing a tall structure with a singular red dot. **"You are presently at the lowest levels of Aincrad, floor one. If you go through the dungeons, defeat the floor boss, you may proceed to the next level. Defeat the 100th floor boss and you will complete the game."**

"Y-you're making this up!" one shouted from near their temporary little group.

Now Kagome's migraine was pounding. She wondered how long it will take completing this game while surviving from any monsters and defeating a boss. This was one large dilemma and she swore she was going to kick this idiot's ass for playing with their lives, finding entertainment from their horrors, anger and helplessness.

"Clear all hundred floors… that's impossible." Klein stated, his voice getting louder. "The beta tester never reached a level anywhere near that!"

**"Lastly, I've added a present from me to your item storage, see for yourselves."** all around, players opened their menus, seeing a peculiar item. It was mirror. Tapping the slot, a rectangular mirror materialized and landed in her hands. She stared into it and blue lights flickered from every player.

Blinking from the dots that were clouding her vision, she realized that her appearance changed back to the one she have in the real world. Sota returned to his regular appearance, with short brown locks and brown eyes. Holding her mirror up, her lips turned into a frown when an elongated scar from her hairline to her chin appeared on the right side of her face, her narrower blue eyes glaring at the heinous reminder.

"Are you okay Sota?" she asked, still feeling groggy. She looked around, noticing that Kirito looked younger, probably around Sota's age and that Klein had short reddish-brown hair instead of the magenta shoulder-length locks.

"Karashi…" Klein started to say, blatantly staring at her. "You look different."

She supposed she did, but it was hardly much different from before, her body just changed a bit, becoming more like her body in the real world, fuller. And her hair was longer and her scars were apparent, but thankfully hidden underneath tight black pants and a long-sleeved shirt with the exception of her face. Her face seemed less childish and had more matured lines.

"And Kirito…" his eyes bulged out when he took in the boy's new appearance. "How?"

"The NerveGear," he said, getting over his shock and thinking about this phenomenon. "It must have scan our features since it has a high-density signaling device once we place the headgear on, so it could see our faces, but with our height and body shape…"

"That calibration when we had to touch our body."

"Right, it must have gathered that data from then." Kirito mused.

Kagome lifted the sleeve of her shirt, but pouted when the sunken flesh of where a scar was indented showed. Well, it was a nice couple hours without nobody staring so rudely in her face about how she came across having severe and hideous scarring. "But how about those that chose to have a female avatar in the beginning?"

"I guess they wanted a different perspective, having short arms and legs didn't really bother them it seems." Klein shrugged, grimacing lightly when he saw a particular tall guy with a skirt. "I think it would be harder to move around, but I guess that guy crossed them out."

"I don't understand this Kayamaba person's motive, why do all of this? What's the point?" Kagome scowled.

**"Right now you're probably wondering, 'Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do all of this?' My goal has already been achieved. I created SAO for one reason to create this world and intervene in it."**

Kirito gritted his teeth, spitting the name of creator from his mouth in anger.

**"And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official launch of Sword Art Online. Good luck, players."** Red fumes started emitting from the body, disappearing and soon after clearing the warnings and system announcement hexagons, the orange skies with a waning sun was revealed. The entire crowd remained rooted in place, not believing what has occurred and what was defined as a major change in their life, with it hanging in the balance of their own hands.

"No… n-no!" cried a little girl and the spell that encompassed the others broke, and a loud protest filled the square. Some were shouting about needing to work and some were worried about trivial things, but Sota was hardly moving, his face surprisingly blank, looking out of place for the normally cheery boy.

"I-It's all my fault Kagome." he whispered grimly, his grip on her arm loosening. "If I didn't buy this game… we wouldn't be here."

"Look," Kagome looked at him straight in the eye, having to tilt her head up a bit since he was taller than her. "We didn't know this was gonna happen, all we need to do now is fight and survive, we will get out of this place, I promise you."

"Klein, follow me." Kirito interrupted, tapping against the taller male's shoulder. Kagome and Sota watched as they walked away, disappearing through the large entryway away from the frenzied crowd.

"Are they your friends Kagome?"

"Acquaintances." she merely corrected him, Klein and Kirito seemed more closer to each other than she was, maybe because they were both males and could easier relate things to one another. "Do you know how to play?"

"Yes, I was practicing when I got here, but when I wanted to sign off… it didn't let me." Sota told her, kicking against the ground, moping. "I thought I was gonna be stuck here forever and now that might be true."

"Stop saying depressing things, we're gonna beat this game, have a little hope Sota." she scolded, not liking this solemn mood her younger brother was in, it just didn't seem like him. "I don't need a wimpy kid bringing my vibe down saying things like that." she weakly teased, lightly punching his arm.

He pouted, crossing his arms. "I'm not wimpy and I'm not a kid anymore, I'm a man."

"Nah, all I see is a little boy moping, we got this Sota." she gave him a smile. "Now we need to go, I have a plan."

"Karashi!" Klein shouted out, running back from wherever he went, only Kirito was absent, meaning he already left. "I thought we could join up as a team, unless you planned on leaving as well?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head with a tiny blush on his face.

"Um, that's fine, the more the merrier, right?" the last word was meant for her young brother, who was looking rather aloof all of a sudden. He shrugged his shoulders, seemly not caring.

"This must be your brother, the name's Klein." the short-haired man stuck his hand out which Sota returned after receiving a scalding glare from his sister.

"Sorashi."

"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance." he cheerfully said. "I could introduce you to my group of friends and then we can start defeating some monsters and search for that boss room." They walked a distance away, coming across a group of men who warmly greeted Klein despite looking a bit squeamish from the announcement mere moments ago. "Guys this is Karashi and her younger brother Sorashi."

A friendly round of hellos came their way, before Klein continued the introductions. "This guy here is Issin," he patted the shoulder of a man with sunken cheeks and brown, spiky hair. "Harry One," it was a tall man, looking younger than the first one with dark hair and pale complexion. "Dale," next came a round fellow with curly hair, politely smiling. "With the red bandana is Dynamm and this is Kunimittz, that's our gang." Klein finished with a thumb's up gesture.

Kagome bowed slightly, "It's nice to meet your acquaintances." she wasn't sure she would be able to remember all of their names, but if they were going to be stuck together until they reach the last floor then she'll learn them eventually.

"Well it's nice to have a girl in group, I swear it was gonna be a sausage fest having all guys." A round of laughter emerged from the lips of the group, causing Kagome to smile a bit.

"Alright, we need a plan of action, the sooner, the better." Klein announced, interrupting the small teasing session between the cute girl in the group. "I still need to train you guys the basics." the group nodded since they really don't know how to play the game, the basic they know is opening their menu and tapping on things for items to show up like a weapon specialty stand or the pizzeria some distance away from the square. "Sorashi, do you need help training?"

"Nah, I'm good, thanks though, however my sister and I will be looking at some things."

Klein nodded. "Well we will be at the training field and we'll just meet up probably tomorrow morning, at this square?"

The siblings agreed and watched as the group disappeared from sight. "Sota, why were you acting like that, like you didn't want to be polite to them?" she asked after a moment of awkward silence.

"Why did you accept on forming a team with them?" he countered instead, crossing his arms once more in annoyance.

"What's wrong with them?" Kagome placed her hands on her hips, throwing a glare at him.

Sota huffed, turning to look at her. "Nothing's wrong, I just feel like they're gonna slow us down," he explained to her. "I thought it was only gonna be us two, and it's easier to have smaller groups than large ones."

"They aren't gonna slow us down Sota, sometimes it could go either way." she tried to reason with him, but she swear, he gotten thickheaded like a certain person she once knew. "Just trust my choice."

He scoffed, pouting a bit. "This gonna take years before we reach the end."

"I know it's gonna be a little hard… okay fine really hard." she corrected herself when she saw his pointed look.

"Anyways, what was your plan before you agreed on joining with them?"

"We were gonna gather supplies, some weapons because flicking pebbles at enemies isn't gonna work every time and then head to the next village."

"Wait, pebbles?" Sota's eyebrows furrowed once she said that.

"Yeah, I threw a pebble at boars all day when I first came here and they disappeared after one hit." she said, recalling the event. "It wasn't hard."

"You probably gathered some money and experience huh?" at her shrug, he continued. "Tell me your stats."

Kagome opened her menu and clicked to her health status. Underneath the bar showed the another line beneath the green and blue, showing a orange bar nearly filled. "Well the bar is almost filled."

"Well we could hunt more boars and then you could level up, but first we need to get weapons and maybe armor, we need to look badass." he said with a cheeky smile.

They spent a good portion of their time browsing through the stalls, even though Kagome was reluctant of getting any weapon since she wouldn't know how to use it. After much urging from her younger brother, she picked a basic two-handed battle axe, it was larger and heavier than any other weapon she held. Sota already had his weapon, a two-handed broadsword, which was strapped securely on his back. They couldn't buy any armor since the axe she got blew through her meager funds and Sota didn't have much to begin with, only enough to buy some food.

"I was really excited about this game," Sota started to say after taking a bite of his pizza; it warmed his rumbling stomach and it was really delicious. "Now, I just hate it and I want to trash it."

"Yes, the only time your temper tantrums would be useful in this situation, you could just smash anything." she said with a smirk, wiping her face with a napkin. She busted out laughing when Sota sent her a withering look, grumbling to himself about something nonsensical. "It's true, I wouldn't be surprised if you destroyed this game after we clear it."

"You're crazy, this game cost me a fortune, I had to save for months when I first heard of it being designed. I'm not gonna wreck it."

"Well, I know you won't be playing it anymore."

"You're right," he agreed with her, taking another slice of cheesy goodness. "However, it's not gonna sit in my room collecting dust, I'mma sell that shit at a pawn shop or something."

"Stop tryna sound cool by cursing," she gave him a annoyed stare. "You've been hanging around Inuyasha for too long when you were younger, now his vulgar language has rubbed off on you."

"You sound like a granny, just chill Kagome, everybody curses, it's normal." he leaned back on his chair, patting his stomach as he felt full after consuming half the pizza. "I swear you've been acting weird ever since you came back three years ago."

Kagome placed her slice down, her lips twisting into a frown, the atmosphere disappearing into a solemn state. "There are things not worth mentioning and better to be left in the past where it belongs."

Sota furrowed his brows, "Why do you sound like that, did something happened to your friends?"

"I will never know what happened to them, I just know too much time has passed and things changed, and though it hurts me to say this, I doubt there's anyone alive from the Feudal Era." she started playing with her meal, her hunger waned from remembering her adventures. "Let's go find some boars before night falls, I've lost my appetite."

A couple hours past before twinkles of light blanketed a black sky and the sound of night critters began to emerged. Kagome laid slumped against the ground, her endurance nearly empty from the constant training but she finally leveled up, receiving some compensations and a new skill slot. Her battle axe was vastly different from throwing pebbles around, since she had more time focusing from a distance than the immediate actions of close-quarter combat, where decisions and precision must be made in seconds. She almost got hit by the tusks of one, but luckily she dodged, she wasn't about to be eliminated so early in the game. Sota trained as well, hoping to reach level two before the next day, but his endurance also ran out, and it was taking longer than a couple minutes for it reach a decent level before continuing.

Laying side-by-side, they watched the sky, their breaths coming out in pants, a thin layer of sweat covering their forms.

It was getting too dark to see despite having a full moon as their guiding light, but they could easily be attacked by the monsters in the surrounding area. "It's getting late, we should find someplace to rest, I'm tired." she could feel her eyes blurring, drooping as the spell of sleep continued plaguing her. She couldn't rest calmly in the clearing, not when danger lingers too close for comfort.

"I didn't even reach level two yet." Sota whined. She could tell just by his tone that he was pouting.

"You could always reach it tomorrow morning, how far along are you?" she asked, her fingers playing with the grass beneath her hands, feeling too lethargic to get up at that moment.

"A couple more kills and I would be at level two." he informed her after opening his menu to see his progress. Then a tranquil silence enveloped them, comfortable enough to fall asleep. "That man has been giving you gooey eyes, Kagome." Sota said after a couple minutes, fortunately arousing her from the slumber she was about to fall under.

Kagome sleepily opened her eyes, looking towards her left at her younger brother silhouetted form. "What are you talking about?"

"The one you were standing close to."

"Klein?" she asked, feeling a bit slow.

Sota scoffed, "Yes him, he kept looking at you." she heard a shuffle next to her as if he was turning towards her. "Does he like you or something?" he probed in a serious tone.

"I don't know, I can't read minds Sota."

"Well don't start liking him, it's gonna be different once we return home; he's probably from another part of Japan."

"When did we switch roles, I'm supposed to be the protective older sister." she said with a light chuckle, reaching out blindly to ruffle the boy's hair affectionately. She heard him grumbled after she was done with her action, causing another chuckle to emit through her lips.

After Sota was finished grumbling about being treated as a little kid, he answered, his tone strong. "Well, I don't want creeps hitting on you, I'mma protect you from anybody… and from this game." he added a second later.

A small smile crossed her lips, her eyes turning soft as she was reminded of her past once more, remembering the similar proclamation from her once protector. It was adorable that her younger brother would declare something like that. "You're too cute."

"Tch, whatever." he mumbled. "Let's go to the hotel or something, I'm tired and I need to wake up early to finish training, we need to get strong fast."

Kagome didn't argue when Sota pulled her up, and both siblings sluggishly walked back to town while keeping an observant eye out for any surprise attacks.

The next day, their adventures were about to start, something that Kagome was dreading and anticipating, but it wasn't something that she could put off, they needed to return home. And like Sota said, they needed to get strong as quick as possible, pass all the levels and swiftly reach the final floor. Even though Sota said he was going to protect her, it was her duty to protect him as much as possible. Now wasn't the time to be scared, there was a huge possibility of death looming over their heads and dying wasn't an option, not when her brother's life was involved.

She promised her brother they would complete the game and she promised her mother that they would return safely, and she never breaks her promises.

* * *

**Feedback would be lovely. :)**


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